Recently in teaching Category

I also want to give a shout out to my lovely film students who are doing a great job in their weekly discussions and writing. Last week, with just minimal preparation, they prepared and performed a strong oral reading of Chicano poet/activist Corky Gonzáles' "Yo Soy Joaquin." Then we saw the film adaptation of the poem (done in 1969).  Their observations of the film version were insightful, fresh.  The discussion became even more in-depth when I added the 23 minute "Yo Soy Chicana" (done ten years later in 1979) by Sylvia Morales.  Morales had received a $5,000 grant while a film student at UCLA.  And with that money, "Yo Soy Chicana" became a reality.  Later, she received $10,000 for a Spanish version of the film.  The students quickly noted the linear, heavily historical aspect to the Morales film while "Yo Soy Joaquin" ascribes to a romantic view with a non-linear presentation. Both are fascinating to connect. 

Next week, we will be reading the play, _Real Women Have Curves_ in preparation for analyzing how plays are translated to film.  My friend and colleague, Joy Castro, will be entering into the conversation as a guest speaker.  She has written on both the play and film version of "Real Women Have Curves"!  Yay for collaborations and literary/film discussions!  

And by the way, if you haven't checked out Joy Castro's website, go GO--click here!  Check out her blog!  

Sending you all, lovely readers, good wishes! And felicidades again to Lorraine López!

Grandin did not speak for the first three and a half years of her life.  She experienced years of ridicule at school for "acting weird."  Initially, doctors who diagnosed her suggested that she be institutionalized for the rest of her life.  That would have happened, if it had not been for parents who believed she would learn to speak, read, and write. Thank goodness also for teachers and mentors along the way who did not shy away from her but instead challenged her in and outside the classroom with visual/spatial projects.  The key was recognizing her gifts. And for Grandin, the key was to believe she could follow her passions.  

And this is the key for all of us--to recognize not only our own gifts, our own passions, but those of others. I often  either ask or work hard to observe what interests my students, what sparks their passion.  Years ago, when I taught high school English, I remember a student I had (1980s) who would sit in the back, did not talk, remained aloof.  In my almost 30 years of teaching, I've had many students who fit this description. Teachers either have a choice:  (1) ignore and hope the student will remain quiet and will just sit there, or (2) interview, gently coax, and see what happens.  I have always chosen the second way.  In this case, I interviewed her and found the student counting the days until graduation. She didn't care about barely passing because all she wanted to do was graduate and then drive a truck for a living--see the country.  So I encouraged her to learn about trucking and trucks, map out a national route and learn about the various cities/states along that route. And together, we found books on either travel, geography, out-of-the-way trails in certain areas of the country.  That's all she did for the entire spring semester before graduation.  She rejected my invitation to give a presentation to the class about her findings (and there were many findings!). She remained in the back of the class, but the difference was she never looked bored, there was energy and an alive-ness present--she even smiled and began speaking to other students.  She was invested in her passion.  

When I graduated from high school, I won a number of "English" and writing awards.  I was literally surprised and even went to the school counselor to ask why I had been given these awards (yes I was that naive).  I had not applied to any of these "awards" or even knew they existed.  The counselor looked at me and chuckled, "You really don't know!"  Then he explained that no one else had ever taken every single literature and writing class offered at the high school (this high school, at the time, offered a number of electives in English in addition to the required courses) and passed every one of them with the highest scores.  "But I just like it," I answered.  I suppose I had the idea that an award was something sought or desired and then with much suffering, obtained.  I was obsessed with reading and writing.  I still am.

Then the counselor told me something key.  "Keep recognizing and following your passions."

This single piece of advice has been very important.  

American cartoonist and graphic novelist Alison Bechdel (Author of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic) explains her penchant for writing and drawing as a "positive compulsion" where "you're not only sitting at your computer and writing, you're hunched over your drawing board like a monk."  She writes about getting lost in her obsession.  

Psychologist Eric Maisel writes, "In what sense is it normal to work at a job that constricts you and bores you rather than risking everything on a life that challenges you, even as it frustrates you?   Much of what we call normal behavior is simply based on fear.  Indeed, the average person might even prefer a negative obsession, despite its horrors, to a positive obsession rooted in excitement, passion, and active meaning-making, so wild and unafraid would she/he feel if she/he were obsessed that way." (Newsletter #28, Oct. 2002) 

The HBO film on Temple Grandin underlines what Maisel points out regarding fear and positive obsessions. There is the Grandin story but there is also the brilliant work of actor Claire Danes whose gifts allow for Grandin's story to unfold into a riveting film. In her interview with NPR, Grandin says, "I want to emphasize the importance of building on a person's strengths."  

I often wonder what this world would be like if every person was encouraged to discover and develop her/his own gifts and if each of us were also fearless enough to follow our passions in order to arrive at active meaning-making in our lives.  

One early film we'll be discussing is the Spanish language version of "Dracula." Hollywood Director, George Melford filmed two versions:  an English language version during the day and a Spanish language version at night (graveyard shift--no pun intended).  Lupita Tovar, Mexican American actress of the 1930s whose starring role in "Santa" made her famous on both sides of the border, played the Mina character in the Spanish version. In this film, her name is Eva and unlike the Mina from the English-language version, Eva is much more expressive and dominant and this is interesting considering the era.  Don't be misled by the picture above.  The character of Eva negotiates power in this film differently from the English version.  

The shots are also slower and deepen the tension. In an interview, Lupita Tovar discusses how at 7p.m., they would begin shooting and leave at 7a.m. the next day.  Bela Lugosi would arrive on the set much after Lupita had gone home.  She never was able to meet him.  Many critics have noted that this Spanish language version is a much better film than the one with Lugosi playing Dracula.  

"Santa," "Dracula," "Salt of the Earth" and on to films like "Real Women Have Curves"--we're just going to have lots of fun including the chance to learn to write a screenplay.  More on this soon--as we escape the cold to enter the world of film!

Sometimes I wish this could be a year course.  There is so much more to read, so many more films to consider with these works of literature.  I always hope that my students will not stop but continue and many of them do.  Today when one of my students gave me her final paper, she exuberantly told me how she had come across more books in her research and that she will be reading them over the winter break.  Her effusive manner was contagious.  I kept smiling the rest of the afternoon.